On Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:40:43 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> On 10/7/2011 11:55, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> I would agree.  I define it as "advertising I didn't ask for".
> 
> All advertising is advertising you didn't ask for. Otherwise it's
> product literature. :-)

Exactly.  I tend not to buy stuff based on advertising, if I want (for 
example) some USB flash drives, I go looking for information.  Bombarding 
me with advertising about Sandisk or Kingston flash drives isn't going to 
get me to buy them.

What's going to get me to buy them (as I did yesterday) is that I have a 
need for them.  Then I'm going to look for something that fits my needs.

And as Costco had a 3-pack of 8 GB flash drives for about $40, that's 
what I ended up buying.

> I would say (for example) that most "junk mail" would be spam. But
> someone standing in the door of the store handing out coupons good in
> that store for products you may or may not be there to buy wouldn't be
> spam. The server telling you the specials of the day is advertisement
> but not spam. (Unless the special of the day is spam, of course.)
> 
> I don't think you can take someone who says "I hate all forms of all
> advertising" and use their opinions to base "good advertising vs bad
> advertising" discussions.

Coupons are a bit different to me - if they're for stores I shop at.  I 
don't mind getting Costco coupons, for example, because we have a 
membership there and we spend a fair amount of money there.  So it's good 
to know what's on sale and what's going to be on sale (since they 
actually will tend to ring the coupons regardless of whether or not you 
bring them in or not).

But in general, I'm in the camp of "I hate all forms of advertising". :)

Jim

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